This past Saturday, I had the privilege of attending the funeral of Mary Johnson-Roy at Shiloh Temple International Ministries in north Minneapolis. Mary was a saint—a role model whose actions are inspire awe. Mary forgave Oshea Israel for murdering her son, Laramiun Lamont Boyd. Not only did she forgive him, she achieved reconciliation with him. Oshea became Mary’s spiritual son and lived near him.
I first got to know Mary when she spoke at St. Joseph’s at the Lakes Catholic church. I was so moved by her impression that I went up to her and invited her on-the-spot to speak for the people of Chain of Lakes. She agreed and in February 2014 she and Oshea shared a dialogue sermon about their story. I asked them questions and they responded.
Chain
of Lakes still has the recording of that service. It’s worth checking out at Release
- Letting Go Through Foregiveness on Vimeo.This past Sunday I shared a sermon about the impact each of us can have when we live out our spiritual gifts. Mary was an incredible example. She had the spiritual gift of faith. Spend any time with her or read about her and her faith immediately catapults to the surface. She never would have forgiven Oshea without her faith. About ten years after Laramiun’s murder Mary read a poem called, “Two mothers.” It described an imaginary heavenly encounter between Mary, the mother of Jesus and the mother of Judas. This poem started her journey that led her to meet with Oshea in Stillwater Prison.
Forgiveness is one of the most important parts of faith and one of the least understood parts of faith. We mistakenly think of forgiveness as something that we do for another person; and we mistakenly think of forgiveness as letting the other person off the hook. When Mary forgave Oshea she was able to let go of the anger and hatred that she had for Oshea. She no longer was hamstrung by these strong emotions. She was released.
Mary never let Oshea off the hook for his act. He was punished by the judicial system. But she was willing to see his humanity and let go of her pain.
The world paid attention to these two.
In April 2011 the producers from StoryCorps recorded a powerful three minute segment that was heard by an estimated twelve million listeners. The link is here: Mary Johnson and Oshea Israel - StoryCorps. I would be very surprised if you heard this segment without welling up in tears.
Channel 4 story on an interview with her and Oshea: Thousands expected to mourn death of Mary Johnson-Roy, Minneapolis woman who forgave her son's killer - CBS Minnesota (cbsnews.com)
Channel 5 had a story on the funeral and Mary’s life: Mary Johnson-Roy remembered for her faith and forgiving the man who killed her son - KSTP.com 5 Eyewitness News
She and Oshea were interviewed on the View. Link is here: The View - Mary Johnson & Oshea Israel, A Story of Forgiveness (youtube.com)
The funeral this past Saturday was beautiful. I only decided to go at the last minute. The tributes by her family and colleagues were moving. Having past Mayor, R.T. Rybak speak and current Mayor, Jacob Frey speak were especially touching.
No one should ever have to suffer the agony of burying a child who was murdered. May Johnson’ s story of forgiveness and reconciliation will stand the test of time. Undoubtedly people will still be talking about her example in the years to come.
In being interviewed after the funeral for Channel 5, Oshea shared that a person will be surprised by what one small moment can do for a person’s lifetime. Their hug in the Stillwater prison changed Mary’s life and ultimately changed the lives of thousands of people who heard her story.
I am so thankful that I had the privilege of meeting Mary and learning her story.. May she be a role model for all of us. I hope that all of us can find the strength to forgive people like she demonstrated.
